Timed gesture drawings and the inner workings, plus some point-proving

Hello again! It's been a while. This time I'm going to be posting a whole slew of drawings; I hope you don't mind! Most of them are not anywhere near the best drawings of people ever, so please bear with me. *WARNING* Some of the following pictures contain poorly-drawn nudity. Proceed with caution if you are easily offended by something you might see at a museum or a nudist colony.

Five-minute gesture drawings: This assignment for Drawing and Anatomy required that I draw 10 different gesture drawings of people in various poses in around five minutes while keeping proper proportion in mind. The ten drawings are below.

The next drawing assignment consisted of drawing the human skeletal and muscular system, again keeping in mind proper proportions. We had to do 4 drawings: 2 front-and-back views of the skeleton, and 2 front-and-back views of the muscles.

Next, we got to do more gesture drawings. This time, we had to do 9 one-minute poses (3 standing, 3 "action," and 3 sitting), 4 five-minute drawings (2 standing, 2 sitting) and 2 fifteen-minute drawings (1 standing, 1 sitting).

By this point, I was starting to get frustrated. As you can see from my drawings there are some good elements, but as a whole the drawing does not seem to be meshing well. The proportions in most (if not all) the drawings are completely off, and the finished products look somewhat sloppy. Knowing how well I have been able to draw in the past, I set aside some time earlier tonight tonight to draw a self-portrait of my face and head. This is the result:

This drawing, more than anything else, proves that it's possible for me to take what I see in life and draw it relatively accurately on paper. Hopefully this will serve as a confidence-booster and will help me get some better drawings in the next few weeks. We shall see how it turns out!

Until next time.

My First Human!

Hi all! I'm back, and today I'm posting a drawing that I did for my Drawing and Anatomies class. It's the first human figure that I've done in a while (and the first one I've done while looking at an actual person!), so I apologize that it's not very good.

It's not the best thing I've ever drawn, but I've got a whole class on this stuff ahead of me, so hopefully I get better! Can't wait to see how much I improve. I hope you feel the same!

Until next time.

AIOnline: Color Theory

Hello again! I come bearing designs created in my Color Theory class at the Art Institute. Most of them are technical projects, but I thought it would be good to include them to show a progression in my understanding. I've also included descriptions to help explain what the purpose behind the assignment. Who knows, you might learn something. Off we go!

Project 1: Gradations in hue, value and saturation - In order to understand color theory, we first had to understand hue, saturation, and value. The top gradation shows a progression in hue (in this case, a blue-cyan to magenta), the middle shows a gradation in value, and the final shows a gradation in saturation (which is another word for how much gray is in a color. The more gray, the less saturated the color is).

Project 2: Tints, shades, and tones - The next step after learning about hue, saturation and value is experimenting with the different tints, shades, and tones present in a color. A "tint," simply put, is when white is added to a color. Shades, conversely, are created by adding black to the color. Tones are basically everything in between; by adding gray of a higher or lower value than the color itself, you create tones.

Project 3: Monochromatic Design - After learning about different color strategies, our next project required us to create a design and, using a single hue, create a high-key (lighter) version and a low-key (darker) version.

Project 4: Learning about color wheels - Next was learning about the different types of color wheels. The one on the left is known as the "traditional" color wheel, and is the one best known to everyone. The traditional color wheel is known as a subtractive color wheel, which simply means that blending all the colors together will produce the color black. The second color wheel is the RGB color wheel, which is used for producing color with light. It is known as an additive color wheel, which means that when the colors are blended, the color white is made. Interestingly enough, the RGB color wheel is the only additive color wheel in existence. The final is another subtractive color wheel, this time CMY(K).

Project 5: Color temperature - After studying the color wheels, we learned about the relative temperatures of colors. Simply put, colors that are closer to red are more associated to "warm" temperatures, while colors closer to blue are "cool." This assignment simply looked at the relationship between different color temperatures.

Project 6: Color depth - Using the color strategies from the previous assignment, we were asked to make a design which created the illusion of depth made up of only circles.

Project 7: Relative color - Once we had a firm grasp of color temperature, the next step was to learn about relative color, which is the phenomenon experienced when tho colors are placed next to each other. The top two squares are intended to create illusion that the center colors are different from each other using a different background color. The bottom two squares are attempting to create the illusion that two different colors are the same, by the same principle.

Project 8: Exploring color strategies (Complementary and Split-Complementary) - The next project we were given dealt with using two different forms of complementary colors. Using the same design template, we were required to use a complementary color strategy (left, using an orange and a blue hue that are opposite each other on the color wheel) and a split-complementary color strategy (right, using a yellow hue as well as a blue and purple hue which are directly adjacent to the hue normally used to complement yellow).

Project 9: Exploring color strategies (Creating palettes) - After learning more about color strategies, we were asked to create three palettes using the strategies we'd learned. The one on the left is a tetrad color strategy, which uses four colors that are equidistant on the color wheel. The second is a dissonant color harmony, which simply means using colors from all over the color wheel that would not necessarily go together. The final is another split-complementary strategy.

Project 10: Exploring color strategies (Putting it together) - Using one of the color palettes we'd created,  we were to create a design that effectively communicated an idea or emotion described in our initial palettes.

Final project: Thumbnails - These are the thumbnails for my final project. I wanted to convey the feeling of excitement and peace that I had felt while visiting Kaua'i recently, so I created four thumbnails that dealt with four aspects of the beach life I had experienced.

Final project: Color studies - After some difficult choosing, I had settled on the beach thumbnail as the thumbnail I wanted to develop. After editing a few aspects of the design (and adding a couple choice elements from other thumbnails), I began creating color studies of my design. I chose, clockwise from top left: Analogous, Tetrad, Monochromatic, and Warm Analogous.

Final project: Further development - I decided to go with my Warm Analogous color palette for this design, partially because I felt it was the best at conveying the feeling of warmth that I wanted to be present, and partially because I felt it was the easiest to look at. I began refining my design by adding lines to the wave to give it a visual "curve," as well as adding shadows to the surfboards on the shore and rotating the umbrella slightly.

Final project: Final product - I continued to refine my design by adding clouds to break up the sky. I also assigned gradients to most of the elements to give them more of a three-dimensional look. This did two things; first, it created a sense of depth in the design, and second, it fixed several issues I had been having with making the wave seem realistic. All in all, I was very pleased with my design.

That's it! Thanks for reading through another one of my blog posts. This pretty much wraps up my artwork up to this point. From this point on, I will update my blog every time I complete a new artwork, so be on the lookout! See ya next time!

AIOnline: Perspective 101

Hello again! I'm back, and this time I'm going to be sharing my projects from my Perspective class. Hope you enjoy!

Project 1: Our first project was to draw rectangular and triangular shapes in one-point perspective. This means that all shapes need to seem like they are originating from a single point, called the vanishing point.

Project 2: Once we understood the idea of drawing angular shapes in one-point perspective, the next step would be to draw cylindrical shapes originating from a single point. 

Project 3: With the concept of one-point perspective learned, the next step was to learn two-point perspective. Like one-point perspective, two-point perspective involved drawing objects so that they appear to be disappearing towards a vanishing point, except in this case there were 2 vanishing points place on the "horizon line." This line creates the threshold for which certain sides of shapes are visible. In addition to drawing the shapes, the instructor required us to make several of the shapes "opaque" by erasing lines that would normally be hidden from view.

Project 4: Our next project consisted of drawing a building  and sidewalks using two-point perspective.

Project 5: Using one- or two-point perspective, we were required to observe and draw a piece of furniture at a certain angle.

Project 6, part 1: The next step after learning two-point perspective was, of course, three-point perspective. Three-point perspective is the perspective that is most commonly seen in nature, but it is also the trickiest. Like two-point perspective, three-point perspective utilizes two vanishing points on a horizon line. In addition, a third vanishing point is placed below (known as Bird's-eye) or above (Worm's-eye) the horizon line, from which all vertical lines are drawn. The above drawing consists of five shapes drawn in Bird's-Eye view.

Project 6, part 2: This drawing is of four shapes drawn in Worm's-Eye view.

Project 7: Our next project consisted of drawing buildings from either a Worm's-Eye or a Bird's-Eye view. I chose to do Worm's-Eye because I wanted to be able to play with the perspective of the sidewalk a bit.

Project 8: With the theory of perspective learned, the next step was to practice the effects. Our instructor created a set of photos that consisted of various objects on a table being lit by a single light source. We had to redraw that picture so that we could get an accurate vision of how perspective influences shadows.

Project 9, part 1: Our next project would be a practical study of the previous assignment. We were to create a room interior (using either one- or two-point perspective) with furniture, including at least 3 human figures (drawn using scaling techniques; I still haven't taken a figure-drawing course, so I apologize for the cartoonish-ness of the people), create a light source, and draw the shadows as we thought they would fall.

Project 9, part 2: Once our rooms had been drawn, we were required to use the shading techniques we learned and add value to the drawing.

Final project - Thumbnails: Our final project was our chance to create whatever we wanted to create using the skills we had learned. With memories of my short trip to Europe still relatively fresh in my brain, I decided that I wanted to try to draw a cathedral like many that I had seen while on tour. This turned out to be quite a challenge.

Final project - Rough lines and shapes: Choosing my favorite thumbnail, I began drawing the buildings and the shadows for my final project. I chose to use three-point perspective for my drawing, to give it a proper sense of depth and size. However, in order to make the drawing appear realistic, it was necessary for me to place the bottom vanishing point far below the page, which required an extra sheet of paper and a long ruler.

Final project - Filling it in: my next step was to begin the process of shading the drawing and adding value to it. I had trouble in a few areas, however, because the vision in my head wasn't quite translating to the page. With some helpful advice from my teacher and classmates, however, I was able to clean them up enough for...

The Final Product: I changed the direction of a couple of my shadows following the advice of my instructor, and I also began including some realistic elements; e.g. the tile on the roof, bricks on the corner of the cathedral, etc. It's not quite what I'd hoped it would be, but I've still got quite a bit of learning to do, so hopefully I will be able to come back one day and give it the treatment it deserves.

And that's a wrap! I hope you liked looking through my drawings (and learning a few things about perspective along the way). I'll be back tomorrow with art from my most recent class, Color Theory. Hope to see you then!